Shatter
by toonanimals317
Summary: When Ladybug is badly injured during a fight, Chat learns her secret identity. He promises to take care of her, and all of Paris, but when a new threat arises, Chat will have to find a way to cleanse the akumas and set everything right himself, even if it's at the cost of his own humanity. Semi-Dark/Dark!Chat Noir/Adrien. Mainly MariChat. Full Summary Inside!
1. The Crusher

**Full Summary:** When Ladybug is badly injured during a fight, Chat learns her secret identity. He promises to take care of her, and all of Paris, but when a new threat arises, Chat will have to find a way to cleanse the akumas and set everything right himself, even if it's at the cost of his own morality. Semi-Dark/Dark!Chat Noir/Adrien.

Absorbing Akumas is something Chat Noirs had not done for centuries. There had only ever been one Chat to do so, and that was because his Ladybug had died in the line of duty.

Akuma absorption is dangerous, as the negative energy starts turning the person darker and darker, but also more powerful. A tinkling of the bell on Chat's costume sets everything back to normal much like Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug power, but also tires him out right away. If Chat absorbs too many akumas and continues cleansing by himself, he may not be able to return to his proper civilian form.

To keep Paris safe, though, Adrien will do anything. While Ladybug is out of commission, this is just a risk he will have to take.

Back at school, an injured Marinette starts to see changes in her beloved Adrien, and when an interview with Chat Noir shows that the once silly, pun loving kitty has become serious and dark, Marinette may end up putting two and two together and figure out that they are indeed the same person. She just has to find a way to help him through the rough time, even if she can't walk.

 _ **WARNING:** This story contains dark themes such as attempted murder. If you are sensitive to such topics, do not read this story._

 _Rating may be bumped up to M at a later date depending on how dark it becomes. Hopefully it will stay at T, depends on how twisted my mind gets._

 **Idea of akuma absorption belongs entirely to shishi** **tsunari on Tumblr. I take no credit for that idea.**

 **Chapter 1: The Crusher**

 **A/N: Thank you to my fantastic beta who also just happens to be my best friend! :)**

Paris. City of lights, love and beauty. There was a clear sky, although there was a slight chill in the air as the weather slowly was conforming itself to the winter season. Parisians were going about their typical lives. Shopping, wandering the winding streets, and just enjoying life as it was. Tourists gazed in awe at the Eiffel Tower, and people chatted away at a local cafe. A small automobile shop sat, cars driving in and out as they finished being fixed.

For the owner, Alphonse Dubois, it had been a normal day. A new car had come in, and he was currently working underneath it, so it was lifted up on the car jack, and he was hard at work with his tools. His employee Christophe walked in, and looked at the car, knowing Alphonse was already working on it.

Alphonse was getting old, around 65, and Christophe knew that. Since Alphonse did not have children of his own, he treated Christophe like a son. Christophe also just happened to know that he was in the man's will. He wanted that money sooner than later. In fact, he needed it. He needed it to help pay for the hospital bills for his real father. He could definitely make this look like an accident, after all, a car falling off a malfunctioning jack onto the person underneath wouldn't be extremely suspicious.

He walked over casually, and slowly started to move the car jack out from underneath the car. Alphonse immediately realized that the car was jerking down towards him as it was moved off of its lift, at a rather fast pace, and slid out from underneath it, just in time before it slammed down. It hit the solid floor with a loud bang, the squealing sound of metal against metal as some of the tools scraped against the bottom of the car rang in both of their ears.

"What the hell Chris! You almost let that car crush me! " The auto-mechanic yelled at his employee.

Christophe raised up his hands in defeat, a sheepish look on his face, "I'm sorry I didn't know you were under there!" he tried apologizing.

"Yeah right. You know, despite how nice I've always been to you, treating you as though you were my own son, you've apparently always had something against me. I overheard you talking to Nicholas the other day. You told him how lucky you were, out of all the people that work here, to actually have your name on my will."Alphonse threw down the oil stained rag he had been using to clean off the car fluids from his hands while underneath, and pointed at Christophe with fury in his eyes. "You're fired!"

Christophe's eyes widened, "But Alphonse-"

Alphonse cut him out, "Get out! For this I'm writing you out of my will."

Far away from this small little auto shop sat a large tower. It had a large window with a butterfly shaped mosaic on it. Up inside the tower, a man stood, smirking as his large skylight butterfly window opened. All around him the air seemed to shimmer as butterflies flew up from the floor at his feet.

The anger radiating between the two men at the garage caused Hawk Moth to smile, "I sense a lot of anger here. Perhaps it is time that I release my akuma."

As he held out his hand, one of the pure white butterflies landing on it and he placed his other hand over it, dark power radiating around his fingers and palms. When he pulled it back, the butterfly was black with glowing indigo markings. "Fly, my little akuma, and evilize him!"

Meanwhile, back at the mechanic's shop, Alphonse returned to the garage's main workshop, anger radiating off him in waves. He couldn't believe that Christophe had actually tried to kill him. He knew that Christophe had always been jealous of him, but he'd thought the young man had at least respected him and he always seemed to enjoy his company. Alphonse grabbed his wrench out of his toolbox, and just as he did, a black and indigo butterfly fluttered gracefully into the garage and merged with the wrench he was now holding. As the wrench absorbed it, a purple, glowing outline of Hawk Moth's mask appeared in front of Alphonse's eyes.

"Hello there." The deep voice came to Alphonse in his mind, "My name is Hawk Moth, and from now on you will be known as The Crusher. You will now be able to get revenge on the man who tried to murder you, but only if you do one thing for me. Retrieve Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses, and bring them to me!"

Alphonse looked up, as a dark, evil smirk spread over his lips, "Yes, Hawk Moth." he said darkly.

There was a cool tingling feeling as black and indigo magic crawled up and over the mechanics hand which held the wrench, before spreading further to cover him completely. Once the magic dissipated, the old man was no more. He was instead replaced by a heavily muscled and very large, giant of a man, practically nine feet tall, the top of his head was only a few feet below the high ceiling of the garage. His arms to were absolutely enormous, and his bulk was at a glance like that of a steroid induced bodybuilder. The veins under the skin there seemed to pop, clearly visible as though they would burst from his arms at any given moment.

His now hulking mass was not the only thing that had been changed about the man. A metal helmet had materialised over his bald head, only revealing his eyes, lips, and the base of his nose. His outfit was also simple in design, much like a luchador's in the way it was almost skin tight, and a dull slate gray color with white designs.

Tilting his head back he flexed his arms and let out a fearsome, inhuman sounding roar, before he stomped out of the garage. Unfortunately for him, Christophe had already left right after he was told to get out, and was already far away, likely heading home or towards some back alley bar to sulk.

So, The Crusher, instead of hunting down Christophe, decided to go on a rampage, ramming buildings with his arms and taking them down in sweeps. He also stomped on cars in the street, roaring all the while. These actions caused people to start screaming and running away, which caught the attention of the students in the nearby High School.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng had been sitting in class next to her best friend Ayla, and in front of them sat her crush, Adrien Agreste with his best friend, Nino. When she and many others in the class heard the screaming and loud roaring, they immediately ran over to the window to see what was going on, several students armed with their phones, cameras at the ready. Everyone was trying to get a look at the newest akumatized villain. Marinette and Adrien were the most keen to see it out of everyone there.

From across the room came Ms. Bustier, her eyes wide as she pushed her students out of the way to get a look herself. Once she noticed the Crusher coming towards their school, she immediately turned to her students, "Evacuate calmly and immediately!" she spoke in a firm but loud voice.

The students gathered up their stuff, and ran out of the classroom, Ms. Bustier following them all quickly.

However Marinette turned away from the rest her classmates, running down one of the hallways and outside as quickly as she could. She did not notice Adrien do the same as he had gone in a different direction to her and in the chaos of running out of the building, neither the teacher nor the other students noticed the two of them split away from the rest of the class.

"This looks like a job for Ladybug." Whispered Marinette when she knew she was alone, and unzipped her backpack, her kwami's eyes visible in the gloom. "Tikki! Spots on!" she shouted.

Tikki immediately zoomed into her earrings, and Marinette's transformation began. She passed a hand over her face, and then outstretched her right arm as the Ladybug costume magically started to appear on her in a shower of sparkles and light. She also spun around dramatically, doing beautiful almost ballet like moves, and then struck a hero's pose.

Likewise, in the boy's locker room, Adrien was ready to become Chat Noir. He looked around thoroughly before opening the side of his shirt where his kwami was hiding.

"Plagg!" He shouted, " Claws out!" he outstretched his hand and the black cat kwami zoomed into his ring.

He passed his middle and index fingers over his face as his mask appeared, and he ran a hand through his hair as his ears popped into existence. Out stretching his arms the leather costume came into being and he jumped up, tucking his legs slightly as the belt tail sprung from the back of his costume. After coming back down to the floor, he clawed at the air and struck a heroic pose.

After both completed their transformation, they darted out of their hiding places (Marinette's had been an abandoned classroom) and started out of the school. They could still easily hear The Crusher's rampage. They met up outside of the school. Ladybug raised an eyebrow upon seeing him.

"Fancy seeing you here, my lady." Chat Noir told her with a little bow.

The Crusher was getting ever closer to the school. Ladybug shook off the surprise that Chat seemed to also come out of her school, and glanced at him. "Now is not the time for flirting, Chat."

He blinked, "There is always time for-"

"Chat! Focus!" Ladybug practically growled at him.

He held up his hands in defeat and grabbed his staff. He elongated it to the normal length he would use for battle, and gave it a spin, "Ready, my lady?"

Ladybug was already ahead of him, using her yo-yo to get up to the top of a nearby building. He followed hastily, running up the side of the building to reach the roof, "So what's the plan?" he questioned her.

She thought for a moment, wincing lightly every time The Crusher swung an arm at a nearby building. "I'm honestly not sure."

"Sounds like we're just going to have to go ahead and make the fur fly." he winked at her and jumped off the building, "Hey! Big guy!"

"Chat wait!" Ladybug cried out, but it was too late, Chat Noir was already standing in front of The Crusher.

"Why don't you pick on someone as clawsome as me who can actually handle you?" Chat taunted.

The Crusher looked at him, fury obvious in his eyes, "Rawhhhh!" He shouted, "The Crusher will crush you little cat!"

The giant's fist came towards Chat, but the cat's reflexes paid off and he jumped back easily. Chat let out a laugh, "You missed! Just try and catch me!" his taunting tone seemed to only infuriate the villain further.

The fists kept flying, pounding into the road every single time, Chat Noir jumping away from the fists every time. He was distracting the large man until Ladybug came up with a plan.

"Do you have a plan yet, Ladybug?!" He glanced back at her momentarily, shouting to get her attention.

Ladybug had not yet jumped down from the roof into the fray. She seemed to be trying to come up with a plan as to what exactly to do, and how to defeat this giant brute. He was definitely one of the largest villains they had ever encountered, and seemed to be the strongest, as when his fist pounded into the asphalt of the street, it would crack under the pressure.

Ladybug nodded then, knowing what she had to do, and her Lucky Charm would likely give her the one last object she needed for her plan to work.

She tossed her yo-yo up into the air. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted. Her yo-yo spun around, releasing the magic, and an object floated down into her arms.

She blinked at it. This wasn't what she had been expecting at all. "What am I supposed to do with a beach towel?!" she whined more to herself than to the still dodging Chat Noir.

She looked down at Chat, and then at the Crusher. That was when a new idea formed in her mind. Wrapping the beach towel around her waist much like one would do with a hoodie, she used her yo-yo to 'fly' over to the building closer to the battling duo.

"Chat! I'm going to try and blind him by wrapping this towel around his eyes. Keep distracting him!" she shouted down, knowing the Crusher was much too focused on actually landing a hit on the cat to listen to her words.

He gave her a thumbs up and a grin, and in the time that took almost got hit, which caused Ladybug to panic for a second, but luckily he leapt out of the way just in time.

Ladybug watched, waiting for the Crusher's back to be to her, and then leapt down, landing on the brute's shoulders, and as she went to wrap the towel around his eyes, the Crusher snatched her up in the hand that had been holding the wrench, his hand wrapping around her legs just above the knees. She shrieked when her footing slipped away from her and he raised her up, his strong hand curling tightly around her thighs.

Her eyes widened as pain shot through her. She cried out, but pointed at the wrench with one hand, her other hand still clutching the beach towel. They'd need the Lucky Charm to clean up this mess after all. That wrench had to be the akumatized item. "Chat! The wrench! Get the wrench!" she screamed, pain surging through her legs. She was sure the Crusher had broken her legs. The pain was incredible, and she felt like she was going to be sick.

Chat grabbed the wrench when she told him to, and then looked up at her with concern. The Crusher's free fist came crashing down towards him, but instead of just dodging it, Chat jumped up and landed on the man's arm. He ran up it and to his shoulder, and then kicked him square in the jaw. The Crusher stumbled back in surprise, letting out a roar as he regained his balance.

Chat winced lightly, the guy's jaw had been much harder than he thought, but he was lucky he had not kicked the metal helmet instead, because he could've broken his foot doing that. He whacked the metal helmet with his staff, causing it to hit against the Crusher's head. He made a pained sound, and raised a hand to grab Chat Noir much like he had with Ladybug, but Chat jumped across to his other shoulder and started towards the hand holding Ladybug.

The Crusher punched his own arm in his attempts to hit Chat, and yelled in pain, letting go of Ladybug.

Ladybug started falling, her scream piercing the air. Chat immediately leapt after her, putting the wrench in his mouth, the metallic taste automatically grossing him out, but he held his staff with one hand, his other outstretched towards her. He caught her in one arm, wrapping it securely around her waist and once he did, elongated his staff hoping it would catch hold on one of the nearby buildings. Luckily for them both, it did, stopping their fall to certain doom.

Ladybug had her eyes squeezed shut, and was breathing hard. The pain in her legs had spiked thanks to all of the movement, and Chat catching her rather roughly had only made it worse. The way in which he had done so had jarred the fractures in her legs, separating the bones even more.

The cat felt horrible for causing her more pain, but he had to catch her, or else the fall would've killed her. He looked grim when she sent him a pained smile and laughed. She seemed to be trying to make light of the situation for his sake, but the pain spread across her face showed otherwise. Her pretty blue eyes had lost their sparkle.

"Haha, looks like I was finally the damsel in distress." she choked out, pain obvious in her tone. Her body leaned into his, and her eyes closed completely, her heavy breathing softened a bit as she blacked out, not able to withstand the pain any longer.

The wrench in his mouth made it hard, but he still was able to speak just slightly, although his words were heavily muffled.

"My lady?" he questioned, his tone concerned. He shook her slightly, but got no response. She had gone rag doll in his arm, and he gulped. She really was seriously injured.

The soft beeping of her earring brought him back to his senses. He needed to get her to a hospital, hopefully before she turned back, but… there were no hospitals nearby. The roar of The Crusher made him realize that the villain was still active. He let his staff shorten once more, and dropped to the ground, landing on his feet. He put his staff back on his back, and spat the wrench into his hand.

He laid down Ladybug carefully, and glanced at the wrench in his hand. It was metal, so it wouldn't be easy to destroy. He needed to do so quickly so he could use Ladybug's yo-yo to cleanse the akuma.

"Cataclysm!" he shouted, and then pressed his hand against the wrench. It instantly shattered, and the black and indigo butterfly flew out of it. He glanced at Ladybug and snatched her yo-yo off of her side.

He wasn't sure exactly how she did it, but he had to try so the akuma wouldn't multiply. He had seen her do it enough times that he hoped the yo-yo would just open instantly. He spun it around and flung it towards the flapping akuma. It closed around it, and he let out a sigh of relief.

He tried to open the yo-yo again with a finger, but it wouldn't respond to his touch. He grumbled a bit and crouched next to Ladybug's body. "I apologize in advance for doing this," he muttered and grabbed her hand. He then pointed one of her fingers and dragged it across the top of the yo-yo. It immediately opened, and the now cleansed, pure white butterfly flew out.

He took the beach towel from where it was still in her now limp hand, and tossed it upwards, hoping it would work for him, "Miraculous Ladybug!" he yelled, in a very awkward sounding tone. After all, he was never the one to say it before, and it was strange for him to have to do so in Ladybug's place.

The towel spun in the air and started to clean up everything like it always did when Ladybug used this second power. He smiled lightly, happy that it had worked. His own ring beeped once, but Ladybug's earrings beeped loudly. She'd turn back in a few seconds.

He picked her up bridal style, and darted into a nearby alleyway. It was better for just him to learn of her identity than the whole world.


	2. Marinette

**A/N: Thank you for all of the follows and favorites Shatter has recieved so far! I hope you're all enjoying the story thus far. If you have any questions, please review or PM me. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Also, thanks again for my fantastic beta. I wouldn't be doing this without you.**

 **Chapter 2: Marinette**

Chat Noir knew that Ladybug did not want him, or anyone, to know her secret identity. There was no choice in the matter though, he couldn't just leave her out there alone, with her broken legs. She wouldn't have been able to walk to a hospital, and considering she was just about to transform, he would not have time to get her there before seeing her identity.

So instead, he waited. He waited until she had transformed back into her civilian form to start moving towards the hospital. After all, in case anyone saw him running along the rooftops with her in his arms, she would just look like an ordinary injured civilian that the hero was saving.

He cr adled her in his arms, and watched as Ladybug turned into a very familiar girl. ' _Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug_ ' the thought streaked through his mind like a car zooming past.

"Marinette-" he choked out. Oh this situation was so much worse now that he knew that Ladybug was someone he saw on a daily basis. Someone who was nervous around him for reasons unknown. Someone who he cared about deeply, not because she was just his classmate, but because she was someone he considered a friend despite her hardly being able to hold a conversation with him when he was Adrien.

When he went to her as Chat Noir after Ladybug instructed him to do so during the case of the Evillustator, he had seen a different side of her up close. The side of her she showed around Alya. She was sweet, kind, brave, creative, and oh so intelligent.

How had he not seen it before? Marinette bore so much resemblance to Ladybug. Eye color, hair color, hair style even. The small smattering of freckles on her cheeks were the same ones Ladybug had. He had been stupid to not see it, but the sweet girl had blinded him from seeing the self confident Ladybug within her.

He held her closer to himself, knowing he only had three minutes left before he would change back to Adrien since he had used the Cataclysm. That gave him two minutes to actually get to the hospital.

He sucked in a breath. It would definitely be a stretch to get there, so maybe he would just have to stay in the alley, and turn back into Adrien quickly. He had some cheese for Plagg in Adrien's pocket, so he would be able to feed his kwami and turn back into Chat Noir.

Speaking of kwami, Chat Noir looked around himself. Surely Ladybug's - no, Marinette's - kwami was somewhere. He looked down at the ground below, and spotted her. A small little red sprite. The same basic shape that Plagg had, but with the difference of antenna instead of ears.

She stared up at him, blinking. The small being sounded tired when she spoke, "Hi there. My name is Tikki." she waved slowly and then flew to his side. She sat down on his shoulder, her small eyes were half-lidded, "I trust you're going to take her to the hospital." she looked down at Marinette, and a tear fell from her small eye.

Chat sent the kwami a soft smile, but it was sad "I will, yes. I promise."

He set Marinette down on the ground gently, and Tikki fluttered onto her, "Oh Marinette, I'm so sorry." the kwami burst into tears, putting her tiny arms on Marinette's shoulder.

"Plagg! Claws in." Chat Noir shouted, and transformed into Adrien Agreste.

Tikki looked up at Adrien and gasped lightly, "Adrien! I had a feeling it was you!" she exclaimed, and then her eyes fell on Plagg.

"Plagg!" she said excitedly, flying over to the black cat kwami and giving him a huge hug.

"Tikki! Oh goodness I'm so sorry for what happened to Marinette!" Plagg said to her, immediately hugging the other kwami back in a comforting manner.

Adrien watched this interaction, surprise crossing over his face, "Did you two know our secret identities?" he couldn't help but ask.

"We had a feeling," Plagg responded, "We sensed each other's presences in school, but we weren't sure."

Adrien nodded a bit, "Plagg, I need to turn back into Chat Noir so I can take Marinette to the hospital." he took the cheese out of his shirt pocket and held it out to Plagg.

The kwami immediately ate the piece and once he had swallowed it down, Adrien put out his hand, "Plagg! Claws out!" he shouted.

The transformation occurred the same way it had before, and Chat Noir stood in Adrien Agreste's place a few moments later. He stooped down and picked up Marinette again gently. "Tikki. Hitch a ride?" he pointed to Marinette's purse, and popped it open, "That way you can be with her in the hospital."

The kwami nodded and zipped into Marinette's purse. He closed up the purse and held Marinette close to his body, holding her bridal style once more.

He ran out of the alleyway. People were coming back of their homes and students were once again swarming the school. "Look! It's Chat Noir!" a voice he recognized shouted. Apparently he had been spotted from behind.

He turned his head to see Alya and Nino running towards him, Alya already had her phone out, but they both stopped short when they saw Marinette.

Alya put her hands to her mouth, and started shaking. "M-Marinette?" she walked over, "Oh god. Marinette! Where did you find her? Nino and I have been searching for her and Adrien since our class evacuated the school. We couldn't find either of them." she explained to Chat Noir, trying to keep level headed and not start crying over her best friend.

Nino put a comforting hand on Alya's shoulder, and looked at Chat expectantly.

He came up with the lie on the spot, "I found her trapped underneath a car. Obviously that's what crushed her legs. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, probably ran towards the confrontation by mistake rather than away from it."

Nino and Alya did not know exactly how to respond to that. "You found her trapped underneath a car? Did Miraculous Ladybug not clean that up?" Alya questioned.

Chat shook his head, "It did, but I found her a little bit beforehand, which is why I knew she had to be saved. Ladybug would've stuck around to help me get her to the hospital, but she was about to turn back." he explained. These lies were coming almost too easily.

The cat started to turn away from them, "I need to get her to a hospital." he said.

"Her parents should be with her. I'll go stop by her bakery." Nino told Alya, "Alya, you should follow Chat Noir, you are her best friend after all."

Alya nodded, and followed Chat as he started to move away, "I'm coming with you." she told him, in a firm tone.

He glanced at her, and nodded, "Follow me, then." he watched Nino run off in the other direction towards where Marinette's family bakery was located. School was obviously cancelled for the day.

Chat carried Marinette carefully. He was moving at a slower pace than he would've liked in order to avoid jolting her legs to much, but Alya looked extremely sad and concerned for her friend, looking over at her repeatedly. "Do you think she'll be alright?" she suddenly asked.

He looked at her, his eyes sad, "I think she will make full recovery, but it's sure to take some time. She's a strong girl."

Alya blinked, stunned by the statement. After all, how would Chat Noir know anything about Marinette? "How… do you know?" she questioned.

He sighed lightly, "I met her once. Ladybug told me to protect her because she was going on a date with Evillustrator."

"She never told me this." Alya's eyes widened a bit in surprise that Marinette had kept something like this from her. After all, Marinette knew how much Alya loved Ladybug and Chat Noir. Anything about them was to go onto her Ladyblog, and having her best friend actually meet and talk to Chat Noir was something she definitely would've wanted to know about.

Alya shook her head slightly, surely Marinette had not meant to keep it from her. She probably just forgot to mention it.

Chat's pace sped up a bit, and that was when Alya realized that they were nearing the hospital. He walked through the sliding glass doors, Alya rushing in behind him. "Paramedics!" he called out to get some of the people's attention.

Quite a few people turned upon hearing his voice, and doctors rushed over to take Marinette from his arms. One wheeled over a gurney very quickly, and they carefully settled the still passed out Marinette on it. As some of the paramedics started to wheel her away, the others left behind turned to look at Chat Noir and Alya.

"Thank you for bringing her in for us, Chat Noir. Were there any other casualties on the scene?" the nurse questioned.

He shook his head, "Not that I saw." he responded.

"Do you know the young woman's name?" the nurse asked.

Before Chat could respond, Alya spoke up, "Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's my best friend, and I would like to go in and see her."

The nurse glanced at her, "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to go in. She's going to be checked for injuries other than the obvious broken legs, and then will be x-rayed. Once she wakes up and her parents get here, she will be prepped for surgery."

Alya deflated slightly, but nodded, "I suppose I'll just stay out here for now, then." she walked over to the waiting room and sat herself down.

Chat looked at Alya, "I hope your friend gets better soon," he told her. He couldn't act too concerned after all, perhaps if he came back as Adrien he could, but as Chat he didn't really know Marinette, or, rather, shouldn't know Marinette.

He turned around and walked out of the hospital. He then ran over to a nearby building and jumped up onto the roof. It was time he got home.

Chat Noir rushed across the rooftops, jumping from one to the other, using his staff to get him across the longer gaps.

Once he reached his mansion, he opened the window that would lead into his room and slipped inside. After shutting the window behind him, he looked at his ring. "Plagg. Claws in." he whispered, and immediately became Adrien again.

He ran his hands through his hair, and paced the length of his bed. "What am I supposed to do, Plagg?" he turned towards the kwami.

Now that he was home, and Marinette was safely in the hospital, he could finally have his freak out moment, something he had needed since Ladybug had been injured, before he even knew who she was.

He grabbed his head and flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Plagg fluttered over to his side and sat on his chest. "I don't know what to tell you, Adrien." the small creature said.

Adrien looked at him, looking like he was about to cry at any moment. "Ladybug - Marinette - is really injured. The Crusher broke both of her legs, so what am I supposed to do if another akumatized villain appears?"

He knew she'd get better, unless the doctors found that there were injuries to her spine or hips. Since it had just been her femurs, they would heal at some point, but it would definitely take some time. So her getting better was not his first concern. He knew how strong she was, and he was certain Tikki would help her heal as well.

Plagg thought momentarily, and then looked away. "I shouldn't be telling you this… it's dangerous." the kwami's words took Adrien away from his thoughts about Marinette.

"What?" Adrien questioned, "Tell me. If another villain appears I need to know a way to stop it. Alone."

Plagg looked very hesitant, "Like I said. It's really dangerous, Adrien. I don't know if… I should tell you."

"Tell me. I can't let Paris go down just because Ladybug is out of commission. I need to be able to save the city by myself. I don't care about the cost. Protecting the city means protecting Marinette as well. I need to be there for her while she's recovering. If she realizes that the city is being destroyed without her, she's likely to try and help earlier than she should. I can't let that happen. She needs to heal and not do herself more harm by trying to help me." Adrien responded, his tone firm as he looked down at the black cat creature sitting on his chest.

Plagg sighed, and nodded. He understood where Adrien was coming from. He couldn't let the city be wrecked by another villain, whenever one came around. He was sure one would come back soon. Hawk Moth was sure to know that Ladybug was injured. That meant one less superhero, and since Hawk Moth didn't know about this, he would be expecting Adrien to give up his miraculous to save the city. He would be wrong though, although it was dangerous, Plagg knew what sort of person Adrien was. He'd do anything to keep his precious city safe, even it meant at the cost of his own humanity.


	3. Visit

**Chapter 3: Visit**

Adrien sat on the edge of his bed, propping his chin on his fist as he listened to Plagg speak.

"Well, a long time ago there was a Chat Noir who could cleanse akuma... " Plagg swallowed before carrying on, like recalling the events from memory was hard, almost painful for him to do. "He loved his Ladybug like you do, but she'd been killed...so he sought revenge and figured out a way to use the bell of his costume to return everything to normal, much like how Ladybug does. But he also found a way to absorb the akuma into his body." Plagg trailed off at the end of his explanation, unsure if telling Adrian had been such a wise idea or not.  
Regardless, the tale had still peaked Adrien's interest, "So I can cleanse and return everything to normal like Ladybug can?"

"Yes… but Adrien. It comes at a cost." Plagg warned him, "You'll slowly start to loose yourself from absorbing all of that negative energy. Your powers as Chat Noir will become stronger, and you'll likely become more cat like, heightened senses, faster reflexes…." Plagg paused for a moment, "You'll become stronger overall, inhumanly so, but… your emotions…" he glanced away.

"You'll become cold. Distant. The positivity will be drained from you if you absorb too many akuma. You'll be locked within yourself, and darkness will consume you. If you absorb way too many, you may never be able to return to your civilian form. You'll be trapped as Chat Noir." his eyes turned to look at Adrien once more, sadness clouding over them. Apparently the recollection of when this had happened was too horrible for him to continue telling him.

This was the most serious Adrien had ever seen the kwami. "Plagg. You know I can't let Paris fall to whatever villains Hawk Moth throws our way. Besides, my Ladybug isn't dead. She'll come back once she's healed. So I won't go bad like that other guy did. I still have the positivity of her being alive, right?" he sent a grin towards his kwami.

Plagg looked concerned, but doubted he would be able to convince Adrien otherwise, "It is possible that Ladybug could help you overcome the darkness. If she ends up loving you back… you know, as they say in the fairytales, love can overcome anything." he told him.

Adrien grinned. "I'll just have to convince her to love me, then!"

Plagg smiled up at him, feeling slightly encouraged by Adrien's positive attitude. Maybe this Chat Noir would be able to handle what the other had not. After all, this was probably the happiest, kindest Chat Noir Plagg had ever chosen.

He just hoped he would not lose this happy side. Plagg couldn't go through having a good person turn dark again.

Looking away from Plagg, Adrien grabbed his phone, and browsed through the schedule his father had set for him today. He let out a sigh of relief. Everything was canceled after what had happened with The Crusher. Apparently none of his tutors really wanted to, well, teach him anymore today.

He walked over to his three screen monitor computer and immediately clicked on Alya's Ladyblog. He'd had the webpage saved as an icon on the main desktop.

There was, surprisingly considering the situation, an update. It was quite a long one too. Unlike usual however, there was no video to go along with the long note. There was instead, a picture of himself as Chat Noir exiting the hospital. Apparently Ayla had snapped the picture without him noticing...

' _Hi there everyone. Alya here. This is a notice saying that the Ladyblog will probably be down for a little while._

 _My best friend was badly injured in the last attack by the villain known as The Crusher. Luckily, Chat Noir rescued her and brought her to the hospital (picture above). I actually got to meet and talk to him for awhile and we walked to the hospital together. The way he was carrying Marinette was so sweet… I just wish I could've met and had a long chat with him at a better time. I probably would've been more excited about talking to him if Marinette wasn't hurt._

 _There was no sign of Ladybug after the attack, but Chat Noir assured us that she only had to leave because she was about to change back into her civilian self._

 _For the first time in a long time, I was not actually out there to take video of the fight, and Infact I'm glad I wasn't out there like usual. I could've ended up like my friend Marinette. I'm currently at the hospital with her parents, waiting to hear the news after she undergoes surgery. So please be patient with me as I go through this hard time. If you wish to visit me and send your best wishes to her and her family, the address for the hospital is below._

 _Thank you,_

 _Alya'_

Adrien finished reading the lengthy note and got up, He'd go visit Marinette for sure, and since the address had been on the Ladyblog, it wouldn't be so strange for him to turn up. That's why he had checked there first, because otherwise he would've been questioned on how he even knew about the incident. After all, he hadn't received a text from Nino.

Adrien opened his shirt a little bit and turned to Plagg, who was busying himself with some random stationary item on the desk, "Come on Plagg! We're going to go see Marinette."

"I'm hungry though, Adrien!" Plagg complained, drawing out some of the syllables in the words..

"We'll get you some cheese on the way out. Come on!"

Plagg zipped into his regular hiding spot, and Adrien let go of his shirt, before he ran out of his room.

He had only just started on his way down the stairs when he was confronted by Nathalie. "Where have you been?" she questioned in a stern tone, a slight disapproving frown on her face..

"I was with the rest of my class during the akuma attack." Adrien responded nonchalantly.

"You know you should've come straight home." Nathalie scolded and the boy could have almost swore there was a hint of worry under her harshly spoken words..

Adrien shook his head, "I couldn't get home with all of the chaos going on in the streets, so I just hid with the rest of my class."

Nathalie's eyes narrowed a bit, "You just came downstairs."

Adrien shuffled his feet, "I came in through the back, but I'm heading back out again. My friend is in the hospital."

Nathalie was not in a position to call him a liar, so she simply nodded, "Allow us to drive you?" she questioned.

Adrien sighed lightly. He was going to go as Chat Noir so he could get there faster, but, he didn't want Nathalie to be more suspicious. "Sure! Yeah. That would be great!" he agreed, sending her a fake smile.

Nathalie nodded, and ushered him out the doors of the mansion. Nathalie pressed a button on her phone, which immediately called the personal chauffeur.

After the Gorilla pulled up, Adrien walked over to the car and got into the back. Nathalie started to get in as well, but Adrien put up a hand, "I can go to the hospital by myself, Nathalie."

Nathalie looked affronted at this proposition, but sighed lightly, "Fine." she pulled her head back and let Adrien close the door of the car.

"To the hospital, please!" Adrien told the Gorilla, pulling out his phone and showing the large man the address.

The Gorilla nodded his head and started driving the car towards the address listed. Adrien leaned back in the seat, his fingers thrumming on his stomach as he waited to get there. He hoped that Marinette was perhaps out of her surgery by now, but he really doubted it.

Once they reached the hospital, Adrien hopped out of the limousine. "I'll call Nathalie when I'm ready to come home." he informed the Gorilla.

The large man simply nodded his head. Adrien thanked him and shut the door of the car, watching as it drove off. The young model then turned and walked up the stairs into the waiting room of the hospital.

When he got there, he almost immediately saw Marinette's parents, Alya, and Nino. He wandered over to them, "How is she?" he questioned, catching them all off guard.

They turned their heads to look at him, and Alya's eyes widened, "Adrien!" she exclaimed, "Marinette will be so happy that you're here."

Adrien couldn't help but wonder why that was. The girl was extremely nervous around him, to the point he wondered if he scared her, which… made him upset because he considered her a friend. Now that he knew she was Ladybug, that made him even more concerned. If she didn't like him for some reason, how was he supposed to work with her knowing that he freaked her out?

Nino stood up before Adrien could reply to Alya, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, "I'm glad you're here, dude. I meant to text you but…" he sighed lightly and looked at Marinette's parents.

"Luckily I checked the Ladyblog. Otherwise I wouldn't of known Marinette was here." Adrien said, winking at Alya, and looking at Tom and Sabine.

"Thank you for being here, son. I'm sure Marinette will be happy to see you. The more friends she has here to comfort her when she wakes up, the better." Tom told him. The sensitive baker looked a bit sad, but he knew his daughter would be alright.

"Thank you, Monsieur Dupain." Adrien said with a light smile, "Madame Cheng," he nodded respectfully to the both of them.

"Please, you're Marinette's friend. Like everyone else, you may call us M. Tom and Mme. Sabine." Mme Cheng told him.

Adrien blinked in surprise at that. It was very strange for him to call an adult just their name without the proper honorifics, or without calling them their last name, but he decided to just go with it, and sent them both a smile, "Is there any news? How is she?" he questioned again now that they had gotten the 'hellos' out of the way. Nino and Alya already sat back down, sharing earbuds and watching a video on Alya's phone.

"A doctor just recently came out to tell us that the surgery is almost done, and everything seems to be going well." M. Dupain replied. "You may come sit with all of us while we wait for her to get out."

The blond thanked him again and sat down next to Nino, filling the gap that had been between Sabine and Marinette's friends.

Adrien, unlike his two friends, sat with his hands in his lap, perfectly content with just sitting there. After all, he was used to being _bored_. Apparently though, Marinette's parents weren't ready to just let him sit there.

"So Adrien, Marinette is always telling me about you." Sabine told him with a knowing grin on her face.

Her expression confused Adrien, but he responded, "I… does she?" he questioned, surprised. Considering the girl always stuttered around him, he was shocked that she spoke about him at all. Maybe he was wrong about her disliking him.

"Oh yes. She's always telling me about how nice you are and-" Sabine was cut off when Alya realized what Sabine was telling Adrien.

"What Sabine means is that Marinette talks about all of her friends to her parents, right Mme. Sabine?" Alya spoke up, pulling the earbud out of her ear.

Sabine realized then that Adrien did not know about her daughter's major crush on him, and smiled faintly, "Yes. Of course she does." she said.

M. Dupain looked at his slightly flustered wife and then at Adrien, Alya, and Nino. He looked like he was about to say something, but was interrupted by someone calling their names. "Madame Cheng? Monsieur Dupain?"

Tom looked for the source and raised his hand, "Over here, Docteur."

The doctor made his way over to Marinette's parents, "Your daughter is out of surgery. The two of you may go in to see her now, although she is sleeping" he glanced at the three high school students, "I'd assume you three are Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng's friends?"

The three of them nodded, and the doctor smiled lightly. "You will not be able to visit her just yet. Please wait a few hours. Only family may visit her directly after surgery."

Tom swung an arm around the three of them, pulling them towards his side, "These three are like her family. After we visit would you let them go in to see her?"

The doctor sighed lightly, "It is against protocol, Monsieur."

"I do believe she would be very happy to see them, though." Tom told him.

The doctor conceded. After all, M. Dupain was a very large man, and looked like he could probably knock him out despite being an extremely kind man. "I'll allow them to see her within the hour instead of making them wait the regular two."

The doctor led M. Dupain and Mme. Cheng towards ICU so they could visit their daughter.

"I hope the surgery went well." Alya spoke up.

Nino and Adrien nodded. "If she's not alright then…" Adrien paused, and looked away.

Nino and Alya looked at him oddly. "You're acting like it's your fault."

' _That's because it is. I couldn't save her._ ' he hissed mentally. In actuality, he simply shook his head and looked away.

Nino looked concerned about his best friend, but wasn't sure what to do to comfort him. He seemed really distraught over Marinette being hurt, almost as distraught as Alya, if not more so. "Dude, it's gonna be alright. Cheer up." Nino tried.

Adrien gave him a faint smile. He knew Nino was trying to cheer him up, but it would be no use. "Thanks Nino. You're a great friend, but, hey. Focus on taking care of Alya."

Alya looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, "I don't need taken care of thank you very much. I'm handling this better than _you_ are and she's _my_ best friend so I'm not really sure why." she looked a bit perplexed about that, and then her eyes widened, "You like Marinette!"

Adrien's eyes widened. Had he been that obvious? Of course his feelings for Ladybug had only grown stronger when he realized that she was actually Marinette. "I… well yes. I consider her to be a good friend, and I care about her a ton."

"Dude, you're crushing on Mari?" Nino questioned in surprise.

Alya practically squealed, "Oh this is perfect! They'll totally get together now!" she turned to Nino, "You owe me 10."

"They didn't get together yet, though!" Nino exclaimed.

Alya pouted, and put her hand out. Nino sighed lightly and dug the money out of his pocket and handed it over. Alya's pout immediately turned into a cheeky grin as she pocketed it.

"What? Did you guys have a bet on whether me and Marinette would get together?" Adrien asked.

How ironic. If only they knew they were also shipping the superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir as well. If they ended up together, Alya would most certainly flip.

Just then, Tom and Sabine came back out to the waiting room. They both were teary eyed.

Alya was the first to say something, "Oh no! Is everything alright?"

Marinette's parents nodded, "Yes. She's alright. She's awake now. The doctor said I could send two of you in." Sabine told them, the tears in her eyes making her eyes look foggy. They were most likely tears of joy instead of sadness considering what they had just said. Marinette was doing alright. "Who wants to go first?"

"Alya. Nino. You guys go first I'll wait here." Adrien told them.

"Are you sure, man?" Nino questioned.

Adrien nodded, "Yeah. You guys were here first it only makes sense that you get to see her first."

Nino and Alya glanced at each other before smiling at him, "What room is it?" Alya asked Marinette's parents.

"Room 115." M. Dupain said, "I need to get to work. We do have a business to run, and if we don't get enough money we'll be in a ton of debt after this hospital bill." he sighed lightly, and kissed his wife on the cheek before starting out of the hospital, "Call me if there's any news, Sabine."

"I will Tom." Mme. Cheng responded, grabbing his hand momentarily before letting him leave the hospital.

Alya and Nino waved goodbye to M. Dupain and walked towards the room Marinette was located in. "Goodbye, Monsieur Tom!" Adrien said to the baker.

Tom smiled gently at him, and waved to everyone before departing. Adrien looked up at Mme. Cheng, "Did she say anything?" he questioned.

"Just our names. She's very tired." the older woman responded.

Adrien nodded in understanding, and laced his hands together in his lap once more. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to Marinette when he went in to see her. He wasn't really sure of anything right now.

He had free time to think at the moment, and that meant he was being overwhelmed by thoughts of what Plagg had told him earlier.

What if he couldn't take it? Other than the going dark the rest of the consequences didn't seem that bad at all.

Stronger? Cool. Faster? Sounds awesome. Better sense? Nice. Being stuck as Chat Noir? Neat. Hell, he felt jailed whenever he was Adrien, so why not be stuck as the badass superhero, instead of being the perfect model that had to do everything his father told him to do, right?

Those things didn't sound so bad, but… the fact that he'd become cold, rude, and overall a horrible human being? Not good at all, the exact opposite of awesome. That was the part he definitely didn't want.

He sighed deeply, causing Sabine's attention to flicker towards him. "Are you alright?" she questioned. She always fretted over Marinette's friends like they were her own children.

He nodded, "I'm fine, Mme. Cheng." he ran his thumb over his ring. "Just… thinking." he explained.

Before he knew it, Nino and Alya had returned. "Can I still go visit her?" Adrien questioned, standing up.

"Mmmhm!" Alya sounded in confirmation, "She's actually pretty awake, now."

Adrien smiled and walked down the hall, a little bit of bounce to his step. The prospect of seeing her awake had let him put all of his worries aside.

He reached the doorway of 115, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a sleepy sounding voice told him.

He opened it and stepped over the threshold. The room was dimly lit, and Adrien creeped over to her bedside.

"A-Adrien?" Marinette looked at him with wide eyes, "w-what… what are you…"

"I'm here to see you, obviously." his eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I-I…" Marinette started, "I'm…" she paused again, "I'm feeling… okay I-I… guess."

He took her hand into his and brushed his thumb over her knuckles, "Are you tired?" he asked her, watching her eyes as they drifted down to the hand being held. A little squeak came from her and he chuckled. She was adorable.

"I…" she sighed a bit. It was obvious she was tired, so she may as well say so. "Yeah…" she leaned back, putting her head on the pillow. "I'm really tired…"

"Then rest. You need it so you can get better faster, alright?" Adrien started to drop her hand so he could leave her to rest.

"A-A-Adrien. Wait!" she called, with more strength in her voice than before, but the strength left with her next words "C-can… you s-stay? Until I fall asleep?"

He smiled at her and turned back around, "I can."

He sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed, and took her hand into his once again. He looked at the needle leading to the IV drip that was stuck into her hand. He was sure she was also on a ton of pain meds considering she wasn't complaining about any pain.

He watched her eyes flutter closed, and her breathing became quieter as she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Adrien raised her hand up to his lips and brushed it against them. "Sleep well, Princess," he whispered, falling into his Chat Noir persona, "I promise I will take care of Paris for you. No harm will come to our beloved city as long as I am around."

"C...chat…" her voice made him realize she had heard him, "You… know…" her voice wavered. Her eyes were still closed.

"I do, my lady." he stood up from the chair.

"Ah…" she sighed, feeling a set of lips on her forehead. For some reason, despite the fact that Chat knew she was Ladybug, she felt content. Chat Noir seemed to be acting like quite the gentleman right now.

"Please… be careful out there." she told him. He pulled back and smiled down at her softly.

She was obviously too delirious in her almost asleep state to realize there was no way Adrien had left so quickly only for Chat to come in unnoticed.

"I promise," he told her, "Get some sleep, Marinette."

"Goodnight… kitty." she shifted a tiny bit and tightened her grip on his warm hand before dropping it, falling back into the depths of sleep.

Adrien backed out of the hospital room, glad Marinette had not put two and two together and figured out that he was Chat Noir, after all, it was bad enough he knew her secret.


	4. Lunch Break

**Oh my GOD you guys! I am SO sorry for taking so long to actually get this chapter out. It's been done for quite a long time but I wanted my beta to look over it, sadly she's been super busy... and never did look over it. This chapter is UNBETAED so... if you notice any mistakes? PLEASE let me know via PM. Thank you! I hope you enjoy... again, I'm so, so sorry.**

 **Chapter 4: Lunch Break**

After the visit to Marinette in the hospital, Adrien had headed back home. He had gotten a fitful sleep. Despite how comfortable his bed was, he was thinking about everything that had happened that day.

His thought process went a lot like this: ' _Ladybug is hurt. Both of her legs are broken. Marinette is Ladybug. Marinette's legs are broken. I have to take care of villains alone. I can absorb akumas, but the negativity will affect me. Marinette is Ladybug. I let her get hurt. I couldn't save her-_ ' he awoke with a yell, clutching a pillow to his chest. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and was breathing heavily. "It's all my fault!" he wailed suddenly.

Plagg, who had been sitting on the pillow he actually slept on, looked at him in confusion, "What's wrong, Adrien?" the small creature questioned.

"Ladybug... Marinette. That's what's wrong! It's… it's my job to keep her safe. Keep her out of harm's way. It should've been _me_ hurt like that. _Me._ Not her. Ladybug could work fine on her own. I'm just her distraction. Her sidekick." Adrien murmured, rubbing his face.

"You know very well that Marinette does not view you as a sidekick. You're her partner-" Plagg started, sitting down on Adrien's shoulder.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel like that." he sighed, "But I am glad she views me that way."

"You're a team." Plagg reminded him, "Ladybug needs you so she can strategize and figure out how to stop every single akumatized victim. If it wasn't for you, she wouldn't have time to do so, and would probably run headlong into battle like you do with no plan in mind."

Adrien looked at him, "Is the fact that Marinette is so much better than me at figuring out how to stop akumas supposed to actually help me right now?" he didn't snap at his kwami, but he did groan right afterwards. He was tired. He glanced at the clock. ' _3:30 AM. Screw me.'_

"I mean, if she makes all the plans how am I supposed to take a stand and actually properly defeat anything?" he continued.

"You'll just have to take a step back and not dive right into battle. Your fast reflexes will help you so you can dodge attacks while trying to think. You're smart, Adrien. Remember you're at the top of most of your classes alongside Marinette. Don't forget that." Plagg told him, crossing his little arms, "Now get some sleep. I'm tired too. I don't have to remind you it's Monday, do I?"

Adrien mentally swore and leaned back into his pillow. Today was going to be a long day.

Adrien got out of the limo, waved his hand to the Gorilla, and walked up the stairs to his school, Collège Françoise Dupont. He stopped at the top when he heard his phone beep, and took it out of his pocket. It was a text from Nino. ' _Hey dude. Did ya hear? Marinette was let out of the hospital!_ ' It read.

The blond smiled widely, and texted back, his thumbs furiously hitting against the touch screen, ' _That's great news. I'll definitely go visit her during lunch break. I'd assume she isn't coming to school._ '

"Of course not."

Adrien got the reply as Nino walked up to his side and smiled at him. He grinned back, "I'm glad to hear she was released already. Where'd you hear the news?"

"From me of course!" Alya chimed in as she came up on Adrien's other side, "I got a call from Marinette's parents."

Nino nodded, and Adrien looked between the two of them, "Shall we get to class?" he questioned.

"Yeah let's go!" Nino responded and opened the door so both of them could walk in before him.

The three of them walked into the school, and they were immediately stopped by Chloe. "Hi Adrikins!" she gushed.

Adrien looked at her, his green eyes unhappy, "Chloe… not today." he made an attempt to move around her, but she put a hand on his arm, "What's wrong?" she cooed, as if she actually cared.

The fake worry in her tone made him want to gag. "Marinette was badly hurt the other day. Not that you care." Alya hissed at Chloe.

"I wasn't talking to…" Chloe stopped talking, as if in thought before continuing. "Wait. Marinette was hurt?" she sounded genuine this time, "How badly?"

' _Oh look at that. Chloe has a heart._ ' Adrien thought with a light snort. They may had been friends before he started to go to school, but after coming here, he realized that she was, well, a spoiled brat. Perhaps though, that could be put aside sometimes, and maybe deep down she actually cared.

"Both of her legs were broken." Alya replied, sounding as surprised as Adrien felt.

Chloe put a hand to her mouth, "I don't like her but I'd never truly wish any harm on her… poor Marinette…" she murmured, and wandered off.

The three friends looked at each other and shared a shrug of confusion before taking their seats.

At 8:00 AM exactly, right as the bell rang for class to start, Ms. Mendeleiev ambled into the room and started to write on the board, "Today we are learning about velocity and how it is different from speed." she told them.

Noon rolled around after what felt like forever to a certain blond. He loved physics, sure, but he had already planned out what he was going to do for his lunch break.

He'd go visit Marinette. It was worth sacrificing a bit of meal time to go see her. Maybe he'd go as Chat Noir and just bring some food with him… either that or go as Adrien and buy some sweets from Marinette's family bakery.

He honestly wasn't sure who Marinette would prefer to see… probably Adrien, but she may also want to talk to Chat about the whole identity business.

He sighed lightly as he got up from his desk, shoving his books into his messenger bag. "Hey dude. Catch up with you later!" Nino said to him with a wave as he followed the other students out of the classroom.

"See you!" Adrien replied, before turning towards Ms. Mendeleiev. "Have a nice day, Mme.!" he told her.

"You too, Mr. Agreste." the teacher gave him a gentle smile before sitting down at her desk.

Adrien walked out of the classroom, following his schoolmates until he got out of the building. Once he was at the staircase, he turned left and headed towards the gym. Since it was lunch break, no one would be there, so it would be the perfect spot to transform.

He glanced around himself before darting into the gym, deciding to take it a step further and go into the boy's locker room. It was even less likely that someone would be in there. Still, he felt the need to sneak around, so he carefully made his way the door, and pushed it open. Once more he looked around himself, and then opened his messenger bag.

Plagg fluttered out, and glared at him, "You haven't fed me yet today, I'm _starving_ Adrien!"

"There was camembert in the bag!" Adrien complained, and looked into his bag, "And you _ate it all!_ " he rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me I haven't fed you!"

Plagg frowned, "Dang it. You caught me."

Adrien couldn't help but laugh a little bit, "You can't get that past me! Plagg! Claws out!"

The black kwami zoomed into Adrien's ring, transforming him into Chat Noir. He dashed out of the gym and then scaled the building with an ease that only came from his transformation. He stood at the top of the gymnasium, and surveyed his surroundings, figuring out which way would be the best to go to not only hit a restaurant, but also get to Marinette's house. After figuring out the best route, Chat Noir leapt back down to ground level, landing on all fours.

He shot down the sidewalk, moving at a speed that would be unreachable for someone who was not a miraculous holder. He had a goal in mind, and was going to get there as quickly as possible. Adrien only slowed down when he reached the restaurant, and walked in.

The people all glanced up when the bell above the door tinkled, announcing his arrival. A collective gasp went through the people, especially the hostess standing at the podium. "Chat Noir!" she exclaimed, "How can I help you?"

"Hey there," he casually waved, "I'm just here to get something quick to eat. Cat's gotta run, so I'm down with whatever you make fastest here."

This was a restaurant he frequented as Adrien when he had the time to, and they were known for their fast service despite being a nice sit down restaurant.

The hostess nodded to him, "We're known for our fast service! Please, take a seat wherever you like." she gestured to a few of the open tables, and grabbed a menu from her podium, "I'll follow you."

"Thank you, mademoiselle." he dipped his head to her, and went over to the table in the corner.

She followed him and handed him the menu. "Would you like anything to drink?" she questioned.

"Water, please. In a to-go cup if you could." Chat responded.

She smiled, "Will do, and do you know what you'd like? You seem to be in a rush."

"I am." he sent her a soft smile, "I'll just have the chicken sandwich. By the way, do you have any camembert? I love that stuff, if you could put some on the side..."

She nodded, "We do have camembert. I shall do that for you."

The waitress reached for the menu but he handed it over, "Again, in a box if you could."

"Yes of course Monsieur."

"Merci, mademoiselle." he responded.

A small blush formed on her cheeks as she rushed away to put in his order.

Chat leaned back in his chair, knowing he had ordered one of their fastest meals. He tapped his clawed gloves on the table, and watched as a family approached.

He immediately let a smile slide into place on his features, his emerald eyes bright as he looked at them, "Bonjour!" he said kindly.

The two children grinned at him, their parents putting their hands on their shoulders. "Bonjour, Chat Noir! We were wondering if our kids could get a picture with you?" The father questioned, smiling at him.

All four of them seemed to look on him in awe, which made him flush lightly. He was flattered to see fans, after all, Ladybug usually got all of the attention.

"Sure!" Chat responded excitedly, and stood up from his seat and beckoned the children over. They rushed from their parent's grasp to his side.

They looked young, around four and six, the younger one a girl and the older one a boy.

The father took out his phone to snap the picture, his eyes brightening when the cat like hero crouched down next to his children and wrapped his arms around them.

Chat gave the parents a large grin, and watched as the flash went off.

He stood back up and ruffled the kid's hair. "You two be good!" he told them with a light chuckle.

"Merci!" The mother exclaimed, finally speaking up.

"Would either of you like a picture as well?" Chat questioned, eager to not let the parents leave without a memory as well.

"If you do not mind-" the mother shuffled her feet.

"Go on honey." the father told his wife, patting her on the back.

She tentatively walked over to Chat's side, and smiled kindly at him. Despite obviously being much older, she seemed nervous to meet him.

The black cat stood up straighter, and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder.

The flash went off again, and the woman turned to look at him, "Merci!" she said again.

"No problem!" he responded.

"Merci beaucoup," the man said, and then guided his family away.

By the time this whole interaction ended, the waitress had walked back over to Chat Noir's table and held out the box and styrofoam cup to him. "It's on the house, monsieur. It's the least we can do for a hero such as yourself."

"Oh! This is unexpected! Merci beaucoup, mademoiselle!" he exclaimed, taking them out of her hands.

He dug out a few euros and handed them over to her, "Here you go!" he told her, and started out before she could reject the money.

"Please come again monsieur!" the waitress called.

He turned his head and saluted her before running out of the restaurant and carefully carrying his food, sprinted towards Marinette's family bakery.

Chat darted into the side alley near her bakery, and released his transformation.

Plagg grumbled, "I'm hungry, Adrien! I can already smell the camembert!" the kwami was practically drooling.

"There's some in the box," he told his kwami, and opened the box with his sandwich and a big amount of the cheese in it. He put the cheese in his bag and gestured to it. "Go ahead and hide out."

Plagg zipped into Adrien's bag with no more complaints. After all, he was getting his cheese. Adrien closed the flap and walked to Marinette's family bakery. He entered through the the front door, "Hello and welcome to- oh! Adrien!" Sabine was at the front, and seemed surprised to see him.

"Hello, Mme. Sabine! I'm here to see Marinette if that's okay." Adrien said with a grin.

"I'm sure she would enjoy the company! She was upset she couldn't go to school today, but of course she won't be going until at least tomorrow! I couldn't have her go back on the day she got home…" Sabine was chiding her own daughter for wanting to go to school right away, "Go ahead on up." she told him with a kind smile.

"Merci!" Adrien said, and rushed to the back of the bakery, and then up the staircase that would lead to the Dupain-Cheng's actual home. He climbed the second flight of stairs that would let him into Marinette's room.

Adrien rapped his fist against the wooden trap door.

"Come in!" her cheery voice made him sigh in relief. He was glad she was well enough to sound cheerful.

Adrien opened the door, and was met with Marinette laying on her chaise lounge, a blanket sprawled over her legs. She was sitting up just slightly, and there was a tray sitting over her legs, with a bowl of dumplings on top of it. There was a fork in her hand, apparently he had caught her eating lunch.

Her head turned towards the doorway to see who was visiting her, and she gasped. "A-Adrien? W-What are you d-doing here?" she stuttered, eyes going wide.

"I'm here to see you, of course," he wandered over to the right side of her chaise, "How are you feeling?"

Marinette's blue eyes widened, "Y-You're really here to see me?"

"Why else would I be here?" he asked with a chuckle, and backed over to the chair near her desk, and dragged it over so he could sit next to the chaise she was currently laying on.

She seemed to perk up at his statement, and looked at her dumplings, "Do you want one?" she questioned, "It is lunch break, you're probably hungry."

He lifted his arm that was holding the bag with the sandwich in it so she could see it, "It's fine. I brought lunch."

A smile formed on her face, "You want to eat lunch with me?"

"I am here during lunch, aren't I?" he laughed lightly at how nervous she seemed, and the blush that formed on her face. He pulled the box out of the bag and raised an eyebrow, "So, you never answered my question. How are you feeling?"

"Better now that you're here… I… I mean! I'm doing alright! I mean I can't move by myself but it's okay! I'll get better!" she yelped, her eyes huge, not sure of how he'd react to what she just said. She would've smacked herself for her stupidity and rambling, but she felt frozen in her seat.

Her gave her a kind smile, "I'm glad you're feeling alright, Marinette."

She wasn't sure how to respond, and just nodded and shoved a few dumplings into her mouth, still staring at him as though he were a foreign being with more than one head. It was not a look of fear, but instead awe and fascination.

He sighed lightly, and opened the box of his sandwich. Perhaps he should've come as Chat Noir instead of Adrien, then they could've actually had a normal conversation, and she wouldn't be a nervous blubbering mess.

They sat and talked for awhile, each of them finishing their food. He had ended up moving from the chair to the edge of her chaise, and the more the more comfortable Marinette started to feel around him. She had even lost her stammer.

Currently, they were laughing together, and talking amiably about the newest version of Mecha Strike that was coming out. It was a fun conversation, and he was wondering if she'd like to play a round of the older version she had when he suddenly came to the realization that she probably would prefer not to get behind on her studies, and offered to tell her what they had for homework that day.

"Oh! That would be great, Adrien!" she exclaimed.

Before he could even open his mouth to tell her, an explosion outside caused him to immediately stand up and get a serious expression on his face.

"Oh… no.." Marinette gulped, "Is there another akuma?"

Peering out her window, he nodded solemnly, "I should get going. My dad wants me to be home during any sort of these attacks." he rubbed the back of his head, awkwardly, and started walking past her chaise.

Marinette's eyes widened, "No! Adrien you should stay here it's not safe out there." she grabbed for his wrist, but he moved away, eyes a bit sad.

Her Ladybug was coming through, there - trying to keep him safe even though she was the one laying in bed hurt. Of course, she didn't know he was Chat Noir like he knew she was Ladybug. If she did, she may have been more willing to let him go. After all, someone had to protect the city.

"I'll be fine, Marinette. I promise I'll stay out of harm's way. You just rest, okay?" he told her, "I'll come back later, perhaps?" he sent her a smile.

She blinked at him, "I… I'd like that, yes."

"Good. I'll see you then," his eyes lit up a bit and he opened her trapdoor so he could leave.

He ran down the stairs, and out of the bakery, then back into the alleyway he had hid in before. Opening his bag, he shouted, "Plagg! Claws out!"


	5. Alone

**A/N: Hey guys! I figured you waited so long for the last chapter that I would type like a maniac and get this next chapter done for all of you as soon as possible. So here we are. Chapter 5. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Alone**

"Tikki! This is bad…" Marinette murmured, concern in her voice. She grasped blindly at the little table next to her chaise, holding onto the bowl of dumplings with the other. She was finally able to reach her phone and immediately looked at the most recent news from the local station. She placed the bowl on the table since she was done eating anyways, and turned up the volume.

Tikki fluttered out of her hiding spot and landed on Marinette's chest to look at the news as well. The news showed the akuma that was currently attacking the city.

She was definitely no where near the size of The Crusher, but this akuma had hair that she could control, wrapping around cars like horrible tentacles, and picking them up.

Marinette couldn't help but think to Greek Mythology and of Medusa with her snake hair. At least this akuma wasn't turning anyone to stone like the Gorgon, though.

She watched in terror as the live news broadcast showed Chat Noir rushing onto the scene, only to be grabbed by one of the akuma's tendrils of hair.

"Tikki we have to help him!" she said, and immediately started to push herself out of the bed, using her arms only.

"Marinette, you know we can't! You can't get out of bed!" Tikki scolded, but watched helplessly as Marinette pulled herself to the side of the bed.

She had managed to turn her whole body so her feet were pointed towards the floor.

"Marinette, you're just going to hurt yourself!" Tikki yelped, trying to get her chosen to listen to reason. Marinette shook her head. She didn't care. She had to help her partner.

Marinette put her feet on the floor and started to try and stand up, but her legs automatically buckled and she let out a shriek of pain as she fell over.

"You can't stand with broken legs, Mari!" Tikki chided, and flew over, eyes wide with concern for her chosen, "Are you okay?"

Tears were streaming down Marinette's face from the pain that was lancing through her. It felt almost as bad as when she had initially broken her legs. She looked over her shoulder at the white casts, searing pain flowing up and down her body.

She sucked in a breath, resisting the urge to scream in anguish. It felt like the nerves in her legs had been set on fire. She had been so dumb to try and even attempt to get up. She couldn't believe her own stupidity. Damn the painkillers, they were clouding her mind and making her think irrationally.

Marinette made a choked sound as she finally spoke through her tears, "No, I'm not okay! I'm useless I can't help Chat-"

She cut off as Tikki flew away to hide as the trapdoor banged open.

"Marinette!" her father shouted and ran over to her side, gently picking her up and placing her back on the chaise gently, "Did you try to get up?" he sounded gruff, but not angry.

Marinette, still crying, wrapped her arms around him, "Yes papa. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry sweetheart... I'm just worried about you. You know you can't get out of bed or walk right now. You can't move alone until we get that wheelchair from the hospital." he frowned down at her, "Why did you try to get up, anyways?"

She sniffled, and shook her head. She couldn't tell him the real reason why. It took her a few moments - something that wouldn't had taken long if she had been feeling better - to figure out how to word her lie. "I… I just wanted to make sure mom is okay. I know she's running a delivery and there's an akuma out there."

"Oh honey don't worry she's fine. In fact I just got off the phone with her. Next time I'll come up and tell you, okay?" he sent her a smile, and despite her pain, she smiled back, and immediately cringed afterwards. The pain was really severe.

"Why don't I bring you downstairs to the living room and we can watch a movie?" he asked.

She nodded, she definitely needed to keep her mind off the fact Chat Noir was out there alone right now.

XXXXXXX

Chat Noir had got out of the tendril of hair that had wrapped itself around him by using his baton and thrusting it into it, breaking it apart. She let out a scream and came towards him with her hands, which he dodged by backflipping away.

Unlike he had first thought, her hair was no longer hair. It was gelatinous, like a octopus's tentacle, which seemed to allow it that movement it now had.

After regaining his balance, the black cat's eyes narrowed, looking at the female akuma in a scrutinizing way. He was studying her, trying to find where the akuma may have been hiding. It was not as easy for him as it was for Ladybug, it was almost like she had the power to figure it out.

He lengthened his baton into a staff and put it on the concrete, then held on and let it raise him up, grasping it with his hands. The akuma was coming towards him, her tentacle like hair lashing through the air, rushing towards him.

Chat Noir twisted, twirling himself around on his staff so he could land multiple kicks on the akuma he had dubbed Medusa. She hadn't been the type to declare her name, so he had mentally given her one. His kicks mainly landed on her strands tentacle hair, flinging them away from him until he could actually reach her.

He landed two more twisting kicks on her body before shortening his staff back into a baton, kicking out with both feet and backflipping off of her, using her stomach as a springboard. He landed back on his feet, a little bit away from her, twisting his baton in his hand, his eyes narrowed at the akuma.

She let out an inhuman shriek and bent herself backwards in a way that looked so creepily distorted and impossible for a normal human being he was considering renaming her Demon Spawn and calling an Exorcist.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had caused this current position though, considering how he had kicked her. Her hair wiggled around, curling around her bent body and lifting her back up. She straightened herself up, using her hair as support, a sickening snap making Chat shudder as she did.

This was probably one of the most gruesome akuma he had ever tangled with. Her whole body, not just her hair, had the same gelatin feel - which had allowed her to do that back bend she had just done. "I was going to make a joke about having a bad hair day, but it's much worse than that!" Chat called, slipping into his jokes even though he didn't need to be the distraction since Ladybug wasn't there this time around to help. "Seems more like a cat-astrophic day!"

"He told me my hair was so full of hair gel it felt like an octopus!" the akuma finally shrieked, "I'll show him what gel really feels like!"

' _So that's what riled her up. How ridiculous…._ ' Adrien thought to himself. He still didn't know where the akuma was hiding, and grit his teeth. He had no idea where it could possibly be. Chat Noir started running in circles around her, carrying his baton in one hand, his head turned so he could look at her, trying to find a detail that stuck out as possibly being the akumatized object. He jumped and rolled as she once again lashed a tentacle at him. As he started getting more annoyed with himself for not spotting the object yet, he started twisting his baton as he ran.

Suddenly, he noticed it. She only had one earring - the other was missing. Perhaps the one still in her ear was the item? It was a stud - so it hadn't been easy to see. Now the hard part would be trying to grab it.

He changed direction in his circling to confuse her and then made a sharp turn and started towards her. A strand of hair zoomed towards him and wrapped itself tightly around his left leg, tripping him. He fell over, his chest smacking the concrete. He hissed like the cat he was and broke the gelatin hair off by jabbing at it with his baton. She once again screamed and pulled away.

"You aren't grabbing me that easily." he proclaimed, and pushed himself to his feet. While she was still pulling away in pain - he leapt, ripping the rhinestone out of her ear and smashed it on the ground with his foot. Out flew a black and indigo butterfly which he snatched with a hand. He stroked his thumb over the butterfly's wings, and stiffened up as he as the dark magic started flowing up his arm. He opened his hands and let the now white butterfly fly from his hands. He turned his head slowly, almost mechanically to look at the woman who was currently clutching her ear - the one he had ripped the earring from. He slowly raised his hand and flicked his claws against the bell on the front of his costume.

It made a loud tinkling noise that echoed, green magical pulses coming from it as it dinged, cleaning up the mess that the akuma had made and also returning her back to normal. "Ugh… what happened?" the woman questioned.

The earring was back in her ear, Chat noted. He didn't move, and looked back away from her. He swept his tongue over his teeth and stared down at the concrete, flexing his fingers. He could feel the darkness from the akuma flowing through his veins.

The woman stood up and looked at him, "Are… you alright, Chat Noir?" she asked cautiously.

He whipped his head to the side to look at her, "Peachy." he responded, his tone sarcastic. "Are you… okay? Where's Ladybug?" the woman questioned.

"Not here." he snapped, not answering her first question.

As if on cue, reporters started swarming. "Chat Noir! That was quite the victory. May we ask where Ladybug is?" one asked, "Where's Ladybug? How did you clean up everything yourself?" another interrupted, "We need to know where Ladybug is! Give us answers Chat Noir!"

His leather 'ears' flattened to his head and his belt tail swished side to side in agitation. His green eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar face among the reporters, he knew she'd be there. She had said she'd start running it again, just not 24/7 since she was still worried about Marinette-

"Alya Césaire reporting for the Ladyblog! Chat Noir! May I ask some questions?" the girl had pushed her way to the front of the crowd, and was holding up her phone instead of shoving microphones in his face like the rest of the reporters.

Adrien still felt stiff, but Alya would be his saving grace if he could convince her to get rid of the other reporters. He could give her the exclusive she always dreamed of - and it would give the other reporters a reason to leave. He couldn't just yell at them to get out of his face like he wanted - he had to keep up some sort of good image. "I'll answer questions…" he said, a light growl building in his throat, "But only for the Ladyblog."

Alya's eyes widened and a huge smile spread over her face as she brightened up. It was like someone had just handed her a puppy or kitten. The other reporters backed away in disappointment, but some were moving too slow for his liking, so he let out the growl that he had been holding back. They scattered then, and although Alya looked a bit nervous due to his outburst, she stayed put. His ears perked back up after the crowd left, and his eyes focused on Alya. His gaze was steely, "Well?" he questioned, his voice still sounding rather unpleasant instead of kind and energetic like usual. "What do you want to ask me?"

He had time. He hadn't used a Cataclysm during that battle - so he could hold the transformation for however long he wanted.

Alya grinned at him, seemingly ignoring his foul mood, "Well, first question, and the question I think everyone is wondering, where is Ladybug?"

Chat heaved a sigh, "Not available. She's out of the country on a family vacation." the lie slipped off his tongue too easily.

"Ladybug left? Do you know when she'll be back?" Alya questioned.

Chat shook his head, "I do not know that information."

"How could she just leave, she knows we need her…" Alya sighed.

"You know we're people too, right? We can't be heroes 24/7. I have a life. She has a life. You need to understand that. Also, are you saying I didn't do well enough alone?" he snapped.

Alya jumped back a bit, eyes going wide again, but this time not with excitement. "Well.. I guess you seemed to manage alright by yourself. How did you make everything go back to normal? I think everyone thought only Ladybug could do that." she asked with a light gulp.

"My bell. Next question." he responded, the top of his lip twitching as though he were holding back a loud snarl.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this but… you seem really off, Chat Noir. Are you… alright?" Alya asked.

"No more questions." Chat responded and immediately lengthened his baton into a staff and vaulted away.

"Wait! Chat Noir! Come back… crap." Alya sighed, and flipped the camera so it would be on her. "Well, that's all for today I guess Ladybloggers. I hope Chat Noir's alright. He's usually a pretty silly hero. This is Alya Césaire, signing off."

XXXXXX

Chat Noir landed on the balcony of Agreste Mansion and immediately let his transformation slip away. Plagg landed on his shoulder and looked at him with concern. "Well Adrien? You feeling alright?"

Adrien nodded slowly, "Yeah. I'm feeling fine," he flashed Plagg a smile - but it seemed forced.

"Get some rest." Plagg urged, "I'll go get some camembert for myself." the black kwami then flew off into Adrien's room. Adrien sighed and slipped into his room, then flopped down on the bed. Yeah. Rest. Rest sounded good right now.


	6. Are You Okay?

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update everyone! School is really taking a toll on me. Anyways, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 6: Are You Okay?**

Adrien awoke with a start. Plagg was resting still on the little makeshift bed Adrien had for him on the bedside table. Adrien sat up and rubbed his eyes blearily. He got out of bed, not disturbing the sleeping Plagg just yet, and got the clothing he wanted to wear for the day and tossed it onto his bed. He stripped down and rolled his shoulders back and head around, listening for the pop. Once it occurred, he turned and put on his fresh clothing. The pop from his muscles awakened Plagg, who immediately fluttered over. "Hey Adrien… how are you doing? Are you okay?"

Adrien looked at the kwami and blinked at him. "Fine, and yes."

"Are you sure? You look…" Plagg trailed off. The skin under Adrien's eyes was darker. Not dark enough to look like true dark circles, but it was odd. His eyes looked like they were iced over, he looked angry.

"What?" Adrien grumbled.

"It seems to be getting to you already… and it was just… one akuma." Plagg looked down. "You're so young, Adrien…" the kwami glanced away, "You aren't as strong as my last kitten who did this…"

Adrien snorted, "I can take care of myself. My Ladybug is still alive. I'll be fine."

"But Adrien-," Plagg sounded concerned.

"No. I don't want to hear it. I'm _fine_ , Plagg!" Adrien growled and pointed at his bag, "Get in we're going to school."

Plagg sighed, worry already flying through the tiny god's mind as he flew over to the bag and got in. Adrien followed the small being and lifted his bag, tossing it over his shoulder more roughly than he usually would have, and walked out of his room. Nathalie was waiting for him to give him breakfast. Adrien sat down and ate the pancakes quickly. After finishing them he looked up at Nathalie and waited for her to clean it up and lead him out of the mansion and to the car where The Gorilla waited.

It was routine. Nothing was different about Adrien's morning so far except for how he was feeling. It definitely was not a happy feeling.

XXXXXX

Adrien didn't even thank The Gorilla when he got out of the car, just got out and walked up the stairs leading up to Collège Françoise Dupont. He gave the large man a short wave before turning away from his car. He didn't stop to chat with friends, and instead leaned against the wall of the school until everyone went in. He followed the crowd in, and walked into the classroom. Nino immediately raised a hand and waved at him, a goofy grin on his face. Adrien plopped down next to him, and glared forwards before shifting his gaze to look at Nino without turning his head. "Hey dude!" Nino said cheerfully.

Adrien's nostrils flared as he responded, "Hey." his voice sounded rough, but not fully unkind.

"Are you okay?" Nino asked carefully.

"I'm fine." Adrien grumbled.

Nino frowned a bit and turned in his chair to look at Alya. She shrugged and glanced at Adrien with concern. His actions reminded her of Chat Noir's yesterday. She wondered if something was possibly going around. Maybe he was sick?

Adrien continued facing forward, his eyes staring back at the front of the room rather than looking in Nino's direction. Chloe turned in her seat to look at the three, "Hey. Not that I _care_ but how's Marinette doing?"

To Nino and Alya's surprise, Adrien responded, "She seems to be doing alright. I went to see her yesterday." the sides of his mouth twitched up into a small smile at the thought of Marinette, and he sighed softly.

"Okay. That's uh, good to know." Chloe glanced away awkwardly and engaged in conversation with Sabrina.

The smile fell back off of Adrien's face. He ran his nails along the wood of the desk. He was itching to move and do _something._ He wasn't sure what, but anything would be better than just sitting here. He crossed his arms over his chest, and glared down at his desk.

Ms. Bustier started her lesson, but Adrien didn't pay attention, which was unusual for him. He ended up finding himself putting his arms on the desk and putting his chin on his wrist, leaning heavily on the desk. If he wasn't looking forwards, he would've been considered having his head down.

XXXXXX

"Mr. Agreste! Wake up!"

Adrien was shaken awake by Ms. Bustier's voice pulling him out of his rest. Had he really fell asleep in class? He never did that.

She looked sympathetic despite her harsh tone. "See me after class."

Adrien let out a grumble and turned his head slightly to see that Nino was looking at him strangely.

"What?" the blond snapped, his teeth grinding together.

Nino leaned back a little, "Whoa dude no need to get like that…"

Adrien could feel the class's eyes on him, and he tried to ignore it. However, he was saved from their staring by the bell, and Ms. Bustier waved him over. He grouchily walked down to stand by her side. She waited till the rest of the students filed out, bidding them farewell before speaking to him.

"You were acting strange today. Is everything alright?" she asked him, her voice kind and full of concern. "Did you get enough sleep? You never sleep in my class."

"I'm fine." he stated in a rough voice, and shook his head a bit, "My Dad's just been working me hard."

Ms. Bustier frowned, and put a hand on his shoulder, "You know you can always talk to me or one of the other teachers if you need."

Adrien nodded his head slowly and glanced away, "Have a nice day, Mme Bustier."

The teacher gave him a soft smile and let him go.

Adrien found Nino and Alya waiting for him outside of the school.

"Are you alright?" they asked basically in unison.

Adrien rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah. Dad's been working me hard. I'm fine. Sorry for snapping at you Nino."

"Hey dude it's okay. Get some sleep alright? We'll see you tomorrow." Nino said with a smile and the two waved to him and walked away.

XXXXXX

Adrien did not return home after school. Instead he transformed into Chat Noir and sat on Marinette's balcony.

He knocked on the window and saw her look up. She was sitting in a wheelchair in front of her desk and appeared to be sewing. She raised her hand and waved to him, motioning to the window.

He pressed on it - and it opened with ease. He leapt into her room and closed it behind himself. "Hello My Lady." he wandered to her side and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, giving her a tight hug from behind.

Marinette smacked his hand and glared at him, "Don't."

He laughed lightly and pulled away from her. "How are you feeling?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"Sore and a bit out of it thanks to the pain pills, but I'm doing okay." Marinette looked back at him and switched off her sewing machine. She wheeled away from the desk and over to her chaise. She patted it with a hand, "Sit."

He obeyed and sat himself down.

"I'm glad you came to see me. I was worried about you!" Marinette exclaimed.

"Aww! I knew you cared, bugaboo!" Chat leaned towards her, his nose almost touching her's. Just being around her was making him feel more like himself again. He felt good, happy. Like the darkness from the absorbed akuma had been washed away.

She leaned away and pushed his cheek, "Be quieter my parents are downstairs in the bakery. It's bad enough they may hear your voice, let alone hear you calling me things you reserve for Ladybug." Marinette scolded, but she was blushing slightly. "So tell me how fighting alone went."

He snorted lightly and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "It was definitely interesting and more difficult. I miss having you by my side already."

The blush on her face got warmer, "I heard you were able to put everything back to normal. I didn't think you could do that."

"I didn't either!" a tiny voice piped up.

Chat glanced around and noticed Tikki fluttering out from behind a pillow on the chaise, "How did you do it, Chat?"

Chat looked down at the bell at his throat. "Giving this a ring did the trick."

"How interesting!" Tikki exclaimed.

Marinette nodded, "I'm glad you were able to make things go back to normal. How did you get rid of the akuma?"

"I...I absorbed it."

Mari's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "You what?! Chat! That sounds dangerous!" she exclaimed, looking like she wanted to scream at him.

"It's not," he lied, "I'll be okay. Plagg told me how."

Marinette and Tikki shared a glance. They didn't fully believe him, however, there wasn't much they could do. "Alright… as long as it's not going to harm you in any way."

"Even if it was, what else am I supposed to do?" Chat snapped, becoming serious all the sudden, "I can't just let Paris fall to Hawkmoth because you can't fight." he jabbed a finger at her, "I'm going to keep doing my job even if you aren't there to help me."

"Chat…" Marinette sounded concerned. She looked up at him with her gorgeous blue eyes, sadness welling up in them.

"I'll be okay… just… just don't worry about me, alright? You just have to work on getting better." the black cat themed hero told her.

She gulped and nodded, "Okay. Just take care of yourself." she opened her arms.

He took the cue and stood up, leaned down into her and hugged her tightly, "I'll be okay I promise. As long as you're here for me." he whispered into her ear, "I promise. You're my partner, remember? I don't lie to you."

The bluenette's eyes watered a bit, and she buried her face into his shoulder, "You better not be lying to me you stupid, stupid cat."

He smiled and pulled back from her, laughing softly, "I need to go, but I'll come back to see you soon, LB."

"Promise?"

"Promise." he confirmed, and planted a kiss on her cheek.

The girl glanced away, a small blush heating up her face.

He walked to her window and opened it, sent her another wave before going out onto her balcony and leaping off, using his staff to propel him along the Paris skyline.


End file.
